Understand and Beat the Odds – Craps for Beginners – 5

Understanding the odds in craps is fundamental if you want to win more at the game. Today we cover the possible dice combinations that can be rolled which is really what craps is based on -the true odds. Ok, lets get into it. Intro Lets take a minute and talk about the dice first.

Craps is played with two dice. These aren’t your typical board game dice. They are large 19mm or almost 3/4 inch – precision cut cubes. They are perfectly weighted and calibrated to ensure that every throw of the dice has a random outcome. They are also transparent so that weights can’t be hidden in them to effect how they roll.

These dots are called “pips” with each side having from 1 to 6 pips. You’ll notice when you add two opposite sides of each die, the total will be 7. One, Six…Four, Three….Five, Two – I’m not sure how thats actually helpful good trivia i guess… The two dice thrown together have a total of 36 possible outcomes or combinations. Two, commonly called snake eyes, There is only one way to roll a two.

There is also only one way to roll a twelve, or you might hear it called boxcars. There are two ways to roll a three. Wait a second, isn’t 1/2 and 2/1 the same? Actually no, Lets look at the dice. it could come up with a 1 and a 2, or a 2 and a 1, it is in fact, two different combinations or possible ways to roll a total of 3.

Now Seven has the most possible combinations, and thats why the game is based on, or revolves around the number seven. Its the easiest number to roll. There are 6 different ways to roll a seven. There are 5 ways to roll the six and the eight. 4 ways to roll a five or the nine.

3 ways to roll a four or the ten. 2 ways to roll a three or eleven. and we already mentioned the two and twelve, with only one way to roll those. By knowing how many ways to roll a number, you can calculate the odds of rolling any number before the seven is rolled.

If there are 6 ways to roll a 7 and one way to roll a 2 or 12 – The odds are 6 to 1 (6:1) 6 ways to roll a 7 and two ways to roll a 3 or 11 – The odds are 6 to 2 or you can reduce that, 3 to 1 (3:1) 6 ways to roll a 7 and three ways to roll a 4 or 10 – The odds are 6 to 3 or 2 to 1 (2:1) The 5 and 9, both have 4 ways to roll those numbers so the odds are 6 to 4, or reduced, 3 to 2 (3:2) And last, the 6 and 8, both have 5 ways to roll, so the odds are 6 to 5 You’ll want to memorize the amount of ways you can roll a certain number. This will help you determine how good your chances are of rolling a certain number and what the probability of winning a bet versus losing a bet is. Lets see what this looks like in the game. The come out roll, remember the 7 and 11 are winners, 2,3 and 12 are losers, any other number establishes a point. So, 6 ways to roll a 7, 2 ways to roll an 11 for a total of 8 ways to win.

added together there are 4 ways to lose with the craps numbers, 2,3 and 12- so on the come out roll your chance of winning is 8 to 4, or its twice as likely you will win than lose. You have a big advantage on the come out roll. Lets say you don’t win or lose but instead roll a point number. Lets go with the point of 6.

Now a 6 will win, and a 7 will lose. six ways to roll a 7 vs five ways to roll a six, so the odds are 6 to 5. You are now at a slight Disadvantage to win your bet. There is still a pretty good chance to win and this is why the 6 and 8 are the most common numbers people bet on. Lets say the point is instead a 10. six ways to roll a seven vs only three ways to roll a ten, so the odds are six to three, or reduced, 2 to 1. You are now at a large disadvantage.

The 4 and 10, because there are only 3 ways to roll them, it is twice as likely that you will roll a seven and lose your bet. What we have covered today are known as the “true odds” Now this is key, the casino doesn’t pay you based on the true odds of rolling the number. They pay less than true odds and this difference is called the house advantage or house edge.

I’ll cover this more in depth in my next video, but for now, just now, some bets you get paid closer to the true odds, or this bet you would say has a low house edge, some bets pay very poorly vs the true odds and has a large house edge. How the casino payoffs each bet is really important, and you WILL want to learn them. One more thing to keep in mind, probability is a Theory, not reality. Mathematically speaking, yes, 6 times out of 36 rolls or once out of every 6 rolls a seven is going to show up on the dice throw.

If you rolled a million times this would be very close to the truth. BUT, Gambling is about the short term, you might roll 10,20,30 or even more times without seeing a seven. This is whats known as , Beating the odds, and when you can win big money and begin to color up with craps. I hope this helps you understand the odds, or the chance to roll a winning number, In the next video we will cover the house edge. This will help you determine which bets are the best to make.

Thanks for reading, if I can help clear up anything for you, leave a comment down below, and as always, good luck on coloring up!